April 29th - Napa Valley

Monday
Surprisingly, we left Bodega Bay on Sunday morning in bright sunshine and drove inland. We stopped in the middle of Santa Rosa for a cuppa at a Peets coffee house. Spent a nice couple of hours chatting to some locals. I like Santa Rosa.
We drove on through the hills, dropping down into Calistoga (which is a lovely name for a town, it has a song called Calistoga In The Rain, which is a great title, but it is a naff song), which is at the head of Napa Valley. We pulled into the Bothe-Napa State Park and found a nice shady campsite, nicely protected from the constant sunshine, of course there are mosquitoes here, but you can't have everything. (so it seems). In the evening we drove into Calistoga, which is a pleasant and pretty little town, and ate a burger at the Hydro Grill and sat and listened to 'Swing 7' a small jazz band (with a combined age of about 500 years), playing for a while.
Today, Monday, we (that is Sally, I just watch) caught up on our laundry.
This afternoon we confounded the mosquitoes by putting up our Gazebo with built in Mozzy nets. Ha!

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April 24th - Bodega Bay

Wednesday We drove the 60 odd miles further west to arrive in Bodega Bay, we are camped on a large sand spit at the mouth of the Bay. It is cloudy and foggy, the temperature is down to about 60, however the Ranger's greeting included 'and the weather is real good here today'. This part of the coast is always shrouded in mist, if not downright foggy. Only a few miles inland it will probably be bright sunshine. It is so green after all the desert we have been in. Misty is one step away from myst'eri'ous, which includes eerie, leaning towards spooky. The houses are all dark brown or green (to reduce impact on the visual environment). All this goes to creating, or self fulfilling, the atmosphere for which this town is most famous. It is the setting for Hitchcock's 'The Birds'. We are here partly to see how much reality there is in the Hollywood creation. Having arrived by lunch time we took a ride out to Bodega Headland in the afternoon, where we could look back across the bay to the town. It is very pretty. In fact this is probably the most Yorkshire looking landscape we have seen this side of the Mississippi.

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Bodega Bay

Wednesday We drove the 60 odd miles further west to arrive in Bodega Bay, we are camped on a large sand spit at the mouth of the Bay. It is cloudy and foggy, the temperature is down to about 60, however the Ranger's greeting included 'and the weather is real good here today'. This part of the coast is always shrouded in mist, if not downright foggy. Only a few miles inland it will probably be bright sunshine. It is so green after all the desert we have been in. Misty is one step away from myst'eri'ous, which includes eerie, leaning towards spooky. The houses are all dark brown or green (to reduce impact on the visual environment). All this goes to creating, or self fulfilling, the atmosphere for which this town is most famous. It is the setting for Hitchcock's 'The Birds'. We are here partly to see how much reality there is in the Hollywood creation. Having arrived by lunch time we took a ride out to Bodega Headland in the afternoon, where we could look back across the bay to the town. It is very pretty. In fact this is probably the most Yorkshire looking landscape we have seen this side of the Mississippi.

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April 15tth - Bluegrass Campout at Turlock

Thursday 18th
Following our lovely weekend at Pete and Jan's we have driven the 17 miles to Turlock, where we are now camping. we are here for the California Bluegrass Association Spring Camp. It will last from Monday until next Sunday and everybody here has come to play, or listen to, bluegrass music. However, like back home the weather is playing a part, we have had a very windy couple of days., but now the wind has dropped and the weather is set fair for the weekend.
It is nice and quiet now, but a lot of people will roll in tonight for the weekend

Set up at Turlock

Sally at a jam on Wed. Afternoon

Friends Minnie Winnie (Winnebego)

Dave and Emmy

Bluegrass Campout at Turlock

Thursday 18th
Following our lovely weekend at Pete and Jan's we have driven the 17 miles to Turlock, where we are now camping. we are here for the California Bluegrass Association Spring Camp. It will last from Monday until next Sunday and everybody here has come to play, or listen to, bluegrass music. However, like back home the weather is playing a part, we have had a very windy couple of days., but now the wind has dropped and the weather is set fair for the weekend.
It is nice and quiet now, but a lot of people will roll in tonight for the weekend

Set up at Turlock

Sally at a jam on Wed. Afternoon

Friends Minnie Winnie (Winnebego)

Dave and Emmy

April 11th - Fresno

We left the very nice fairground in Bakersfield and drove north on 99 to Fresno fairground ($20 p .n., full hook up very quiet).  Fresno is the site of a Harvey House Newstand, but is no longer there. Once installed there I took the opportunity to visit the California Gratitude Train ,Merci Boxcar. Although a little out of the way this boxcar is proudly looked after by the American Legion Fresno Federal Post #509, in Fresno, particularly the 40 & 8's. While I was there taking pics of the boxcar one of the 40 &8's members came out and we had a very interesting chat about the boxcar.

Boxcar and Chevy

The plaque near the boxcar

Up close showing the 40 and 8 sign

Me and the Boxcar

April 9th - Bakersfield and Highway 99

From Barstow we followed the Highway 58 to Mojave, to Tehachapi and on to Bakersfield, where we stopped at the Fairground.
I looked for signs of the Harvey House in Mojave, but it had been flattened many years ago. There was also a Harvey House in Bakersfield, but it too had gone many years ago. This had been a long drive for us so we stayed for two nights. The Fairground ($25 p.n. full hookup) is very nice and neat and clean and it was not too hot. The day spent here enabled us to get some shopping done. Bakersfield 's main claim to fame is its Bakersfield Sound, a sort of Rock-a-billy country style. Buck Owens and Merle Haggard are its most famous musicians. We had a look at the Crystal Palace, owned by Buck Owens, which is Bakersfiels's sort of Grand Ole Opre.
On Thursday morning we moved on up Highway 99 to Fresno, where we have stopped at another fairground (bit of a pattern here isn't there). Highway 99 goes right up the middle of California in the California Central Valley, which which is very intensively farmed, as we described in our other blogs, as we travelled up this way in the fall of 2011 and Spring of 2012.

Yep, this is Bakersfield

Buck Owens Crystal Palace

April 7th - Calico

Calico Ghost Town.

We were indeed camped right next to the Ghost Town, however the weather now interfered with our plans. A storm was blowing in. Only wind, but expected to be up to 60 m.p.h gusts. Looking at the weather charts it seemed that the Jet Stream had taken an unexpectedly Southern route, down the west coast, crossing the Mojave Desert and New Mexico and swinging back North up the Great Plains. This meant havoc for the North and West of USA. The west coast got cold. The Southern states (thats us) got gales, the Rockies Mid West and Northern states as far as the Great Lakes got snow. Warm wet air sucked in from the gulf, meeting the cold dry air sucked down from Canada met and dropping up to 30 inches of snow. It won’t last long, but it is big.

By Monday afternoon we were prepared to brave the wind and go up to visit the ghost town which had originally been a Sliver Mining Community. It was very twee, but poorly described. We then noticed that some of the buildings were not original 1880’s. We eventually found out that a guy called Walter Knott bought the town in 1950 and was determined to restore it to its original condition as ghost town, Walter Knott is well know for his amusement park in Anaheim, Knotts Berry Farm, right next to Disneyland. Which incidentally started as a farm in 1920, where Walter developed the Boysenberry. The wayside farm stall then opened a chicken restaurant, which developed entertainment bits, which then became what is claimed to be the first theme park in 1947m, complete with its own ghost town. Its history has some fascinating parallels with Calico and also many of the activities and places that we have seen on our travels in the West. Read about it here……. Knotts Berry Farm History

The county of San Bernardino was given the park and have kept it going ever since, so really it is only a pseudo ghost town with many buildings form the 1950’s, still a good bit of fun with the train, the mine, the main street, the sheriffs office etc. we then went down to Peggy Sue’s Diner for dinner.

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Calico

Calico Ghost Town.

We were indeed camped right next to the Ghost Town, however the weather now interfered with our plans. A storm was blowing in. Only wind, but expected to be up to 60 m.p.h gusts. Looking at the weather charts it seemed that the Jet Stream had taken an unexpectedly Southern route, down the west coast, crossing the Mojave Desert and New Mexico and swinging back North up the Great Plains. This meant havoc for the North and West of USA. The west coast got cold. The Southern states (thats us) got gales, the Rockies Mid West and Northern states as far as the Great Lakes got snow. Warm wet air sucked in from the gulf, meeting the cold dry air sucked down from Canada met and dropping up to 30 inches of snow. It won’t last long, but it is big.

By Monday afternoon we were prepared to brave the wind and go up to visit the ghost town which had originally been a Sliver Mining Community. It was very twee, but poorly described. We then noticed that some of the buildings were not original 1880’s. We eventually found out that a guy called Wlater Knott bought the town in 1950 and was determined to restore it to its original condition as ghost town, Walter Knott is well know for his amusement park in Anaheim, Knotts Berry Farm, right next to Disneyland. Which incidentally started as a farm in 1920, where Walter developed the Boysenberry. The wayside farm stall then opened a chicken restaurant, which developed entertainment bits, which then became what is claimed to be the first theme park in 1947m, complete with its own ghost town. Its history has some fascinating parallels with Calico and also many of the activities and places that we have seen on our travels in the West. Read about it here……. Knotts Berry Farm History

The county of San Bernardino was given the park and have kept it going ever since, so really it is only a pseudo ghost town with many buildings form the 1950’s, still a good bit of fun with the train, the mine, the main street, the sheriffs office etc. we then went down to Peggy Sue’s Diner for dinner.

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Calico

Calico Ghost Town.

We were indeed camped right next to the Ghost Town, however the weather now interfered with our plans. A storm was blowing in. Only wind, but expected to be up to 60 m.p.h gusts. Looking at the weather charts it seemed that the Jet Stream had taken an unexpectedly Southern route, down the west coast, crossing the Mojave Desert and New Mexico and swinging back North up the Great Plains. This meant havoc for the North and West of USA. The west coast got cold. The Southern states (thats us) got gales, the Rockies Mid West and Northern states as far as the Great Lakes got snow. Warm wet air sucked in from the gulf, meeting the cold dry air sucked down from Canada met and dropping up to 30 inches of snow. It won’t last long, but it is big.

By Monday afternoon we were prepared to brave the wind and go up to visit the ghost town which had originally been a Sliver Mining Community. It was very twee, but poorly described. We then noticed that some of the buildings were not original 1880’s. We eventually found out that a guy called Wlater Knott bought the town in 1950 and was determined to restore it to its original condition as ghost town, Walter Knott is well know for his amusement park in Anaheim, Knotts Berry Farm, right next to Disneyland. Which incidentally started as a farm in 1920, where Walter developed the Boysenberry. The wayside farm stall then opened a chicken restaurant, which developed entertainment bits, which then became what is claimed to be the first theme park in 1947m, complete with its own ghost town. Its history has some fascinating parallels with Calico and also many of the activities and places that we have seen on our travels in the West. Read about it here……. Knotts Berry Farm History

The county of San Bernardino was given the park and have kept it going ever since, so really it is only a pseudo ghost town with many buildings form the 1950’s, still a good bit of fun with the train, the mine, the main street, the sheriffs office etc. we then went down to Peggy Sue’s Diner for dinner.

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April 6th - It's That Road Again

Having arrived in Needles we were once again on Route 66. As we drove through the quiet town it definitely had the air of having been bypassed by Interstate 40. We had planned to stay at North Shore RV, as  it appeared to be reasonably priced, only to find that it is a privately owned club, which we clearly did not belong to. So we pulled into what looked like a very seedy motel and RV park next door, only to find that once past the rather rundown gate, that it was a very pretty little park which enabled us to camp right beside the Colorado River. Very pleasant. We spent some time in the evening just sitting by the river, which flows very fast at this point, which is about 30 miles south of Lake Mojave and 100 miles south of Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam.

Sunday morning we set out to cross the Mojave Desert to reach the more populated areas of California. Before leaving Needles we drove to the site of the Harvey House restaurant, which in 1909, when it was built, was called the ‘Jewel in the Crown’ of the Harvey Houses. How times change, Needles has been bypassed, the railway is used almost exclusively for freight and the town has died. ‘The Jewel in The Crown’ is now just an empty shell.

One thing that was becoming more apparent is that Route 66 substantially followed the East West Rail track. What was also apparent was that there is an enormous amount of freight transported by rail. Every few minutes we passed giant trains moving across the desert. We counted one train at 151 wagons long, being hauled by 4 locos. The bulk of the wagons had containers piled two high on them, taking freight from the giant cargo boats coming into Long Beach from China to the Eastern and Northern States. One could imagine the containers full of T-shirts, toys TVs and goods already for distribution to Wal-Mart’s, for us to buy them.

Rather than driving on the probably very bumpy I40 we followed the old Route 66 where possible. It was till desert, but had that historic feel to it. We stopped only in Amboy, which is a town built by a man named Roy, who in the 50’s saw great things for this part of the desert, that is until the I40 bypassed it. His legacy is the place known as Roys Motel and Café, which is now an iconic destination on Route 66. The 50’s Motel is still there complete with furniture, just locked up, the little motel ‘houses’ are still there and you can walk through them, though they are stripped bare. The café does not serve food and had nearly run out of gas ($4.99 p gal). The owners seemed content to let it return to the desert from which it started, in contrast to a lot of the places on Route 66 which are trying to develop the Route 66 industry. Driving on a few miles we stopped at Bagdad for our picnic lunch. We knew it was the town of Bagdad because the map said so, the town had been abandoned and all buildings had gone. All that was left was a couple of people looking for stuff with metal detectors. We couldn’t even find the sign for the town.

We rejoined I40 only to turn North at Daggett. We crossed Route 66, but could not find the border patrol point mentioned in Grapes Of Wrath, where to get into California they had to lie about Granny needing to get to see a doctor (she had died about an hour before). Driving up into the mountains we crossed the I15 at Peggy Sue’s Diner, continuing on to the Calico Ghost Town County Park and RV Park.

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It's That Road Again

Having arrived in Needles we were once again on Route 66. As we drove through the quiet town it definitely had the air of having been bypassed by Interstate 40. We had planned to stay at North Shore RV, as  it appeared to be reasonably priced, only to find that it is a privately owned club, which we clearly did not belong to. So we pulled into what looked like a very seedy motel and RV park next door, only to find that once past the rather rundown gate, that it was a very pretty little park which enabled us to camp right beside the Colorado River. Very pleasant. We spent some time in the evening just sitting by the river, which flows very fast at this point, which is about 30 miles south of Lake Mojave and 100 miles south of Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam.

Sunday morning we set out to cross the Mojave Desert to reach the more populated areas of California. Before leaving Needles we drove to the site of the Harvey House restaurant, which in 1909, when it was built, was called the ‘Jewel in the Crown’ of the Harvey Houses. How times change, Needles has been bypassed, the railway is used almost exclusively for freight and the town has died. ‘The Jewel in The Crown’ is now just an empty shell.

One thing that was becoming more apparent is that Route 66 substantially followed the East West Rail track. What was also apparent was that there is an enormous amount of freight transported by rail. Every few minutes we passed giant trains moving across the desert. We counted one train at 151 wagons long, being hauled by 4 locos. The bulk of the wagons had containers piled two high on them, taking freight from the giant cargo boats coming into Long Beach from China to the Eastern and Northern States. One could imagine the containers full of T-shirts, toys TVs and goods already for distribution to Wal-Mart’s, for us to buy them.

Rather than driving on the probably very bumpy I40 we followed the old Route 66 where possible. It was till desert, but had that historic feel to it. We stopped only in Amboy, which is a town built by a man named Roy, who in the 50’s saw great things for this part of the desert, that is until the I40 bypassed it. His legacy is the place known as Roys Motel and Café, which is now an iconic destination on Route 66. The 50’s Motel is still there complete with furniture, just locked up, the little motel ‘houses’ are still there and you can walk through them, though they are stripped bare. The café does not serve food and had nearly run out of gas ($4.99 p gal). The owners seemed content to let it return to the desert from which it started, in contrast to a lot of the places on Route 66 which are trying to develop the Route 66 industry. Driving on a few miles we stopped at Bagdad for our picnic lunch. We knew it was the town of Bagdad because the map said so, the town had been abandoned and all buildings had gone. All that was left was a couple of people looking for stuff with metal detectors. We couldn’t even find the sign for the town.

We rejoined I40 only to turn North at Daggett. We crossed Route 66, but could not find the border patrol point mentioned in Grapes Of Wrath, where to get into California they had to lie about Granny needing to get to see a doctor (she had died about an hour before). Driving up into the mountains we crossed the I15 at Peggy Sue’s Diner, continuing on to the Calico Ghost Town County Park and RV Park.

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April 6th - Lily the illegal alien

Friday
After spending time at Lake Havasu we moved North to I40 and crossed the Colorado River into California with fear and trepidation as Sally’s Easter Lily (given by the First Christian Church in Pheonix), which has been such a wonderful plant, was now in danger! From the Federales! We had to pass through the dreaded Agriculltural Border Checkpoint, which clearly states that you may not bring soil into the state of California (unless it is used for plants that have been grown entirely indoors), so Lily may be confiscated as an illegal alien. We were fully prepare to argue that it was an indoor plant, but had no proof since it had been given to us in its mature state. We pulled up at the checkpoint, wound down the window, the officer asked if we had any firewood! To which we answered not and we were on our way with Lily still intact and seated on the back seat of the van. The first town you come to in California is called Needles. We planned to stay here for a night

Lily the illegal alien

After spending time at Lake Havasu we moved North to I40 and crossed the Colorado River into California with fear and trepidation as Sally’s Easter Lily (given by the First Christian Church in Pheonix), which has been such a wonderful plant, was now in danger! From the Federales! We had to pass through the dreaded Agriculltural Border Checkpoint, which clearly states that you may not bring soil into the state of California (unless it is used for plants that have been grown entirely indoors), so Lily may be confiscated as an illegal alien. We were fully prepare to argue that it was an indoor plant, but had no proof since it had been given to us in its mature state. We pulled up at the checkpoint, wound down the window, the officer asked if we had any firewood! To which we answered not and we were on our way with Lily still intact and seated on the back seat of the van. The first town you come to in California is called Needles. We planned to stay here for a night

April 4th - Buckskin Mountain and Lake Havasu

Thursday We are now heading North along the East side of the Colorado River to visit Lake Havasu. We took AZ Highway 95, which is long and very straight, cutting straight through the Yuma Army Proving Grounds to Quartzsite. (not to be confused with the CA Highway 95, which runs up the West side of the Colorado River, although at one point, in Needles they actually meet on a bridge cross the Colorado). WE now left the Sonoran Desert, seeing that last Saguaro somewhere south of Parker. We stopped just North of Parker at the very pretty AZ Buckskin Mountain state Park, right on the edge of the river. A beautiful park only marred by the enormous number of recreational boats moving up and down the river, jet skis, ski boats, pontoon boats, power boats. Good fun to watch, but a constant noise. We discovered that the river from Parker to Lake Havasu is one enormous water activity centre. Footnote. Interestingly the weather in Yuma was getting noticeably warmer, with the temp creeping above 100F, so the tourist season was winding down for the hot summer. Whereas in Parker, 150 miles North, the temperature was getting noticeably warmer, with the temperature creeping above 100F and yet the summer tourist season was just starting! Go figure. (as they say over here). Lake Havasu and its links to London On Saturday, after our two nights at Buckskin Mountain, which were very pleasant, we were ready to move on. We planned to take a very short drive to Needles, just 70 miles north, but to stop off in Lake Havasu to visit the Famous London Bridge. We found the bridge without any trouble. It was bought by a man named McCulloch in 1968 , dismantled, stone by stone, transported to the middle of the desert and rebuilt by 1971. (Now a theory exists that the guy must have been insane, can’t imagine why). Then they dug a channel beneath the bridge to connect two more bits of desert together. Then they waited until the tide came in (a bit like Noah), in the form of Lake Havasu, which is a reservoir about 50 miles long which has been made by damming the Colorado at the Parker Dam. Now the bridge sits happily spanning a beautiful blue expanse of water. A far cry from its dirty damp days in the middle of London.

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Buckskin Mountain and Lake Havasu

Thursday We are now heading North along the East side of the Colorado River to visit Lake Havasu. We took AZ Highway 95, which is long and very straight, cutting straight through the Yuma Army Proving Grounds to Quartzsite. (not to be confused with the CA Highway 95, which runs up the West side of the Colorado River, although at one point, in Needles they actually meet on a bridge cross the Colorado). WE now left the Sonoran Desert, seeing that last Saguaro somewhere south of Parker. We stopped just North of Parker at the very pretty AZ Buckskin Mountain state Park, right on the edge of the river. A beautiful park only marred by the enormous number of recreational boats moving up and down the river, jet skis, ski boats, pontoon boats, power boats. Good fun to watch, but a constant noise. We discovered that the river from Parker to Lake Havasu is one enormous water activity centre. Footnote. Interestingly the weather in Yuma was getting noticeably warmer, with the temp creeping above 100F, so the tourist season was winding down for the hot summer. Whereas in Parker, 150 miles North, the temperature was getting noticeably warmer, with the temperature creeping above 100F and yet the summer tourist season was just starting! Go figure. (as they say over here). Lake Havasu and its links to London On Saturday, after our two nights at Buckskin Mountain, which were very pleasant, we were ready to move on. We planned to take a very short drive to Needles, just 70 miles north, but to stop off in Lake Havasu to visit the Famous London Bridge. We found the bridge without any trouble. It was bought by a man named McCulloch in 1968 , dismantled, stone by stone, transported to the middle of the desert and rebuilt by 1971. (Now a theory exists that the guy must have been insane, can’t imagine why). Then they dug a channel beneath the bridge to connect two more bits of desert together. Then they waited until the tide came in (a bit like Noah), in the form of Lake Havasu, which is a reservoir about 50 miles long which has been made by damming the Colorado at the Parker Dam. Now the bridge sits happily spanning a beautiful blue expanse of water. A far cry from its dirty damp days in the middle of London.

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Picacho State Park and on to Royal Palms

Wednesday

Having pulled into Picacho State Park we found our site, a large flat site, but then when you are in the middle of the desert space is not really at a premium.

We spent all of Wednesday doing nothing but relaxing in the sunshine, with a short drive to the visitor centre and I had a short walk through the desert, checking out the local birds and the giant Seguaro. Very pleasant.

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Thursday

Time to move on, we want to make sure that Phoenix it self is not missed out of our itinery so we are returning to Royal Palms (where we finished our last trip) for a few days, mostly to take advantage of their pool.

We drove the 85 miles and arrived in time for a dip and then took up the invite to play bingo with the residents. 

Bingo

US bingo is different. they use a grid of 5 x 5 numbers (free in the middle), each column has a letter above Col 1  is 'B', col 2 is 'I'' etc. then the numbers are split into 15's which are distributed at random in each column, so col 1 can be 5 numbers from 1 - 15 in any order. So when they call it is a letter and a number.

I don't know if it was just this caller, but there were no number descriptions, like "two little ducks 22", "Two fat ladies 88". However as wit most bingo the people we were with were lovely and welcoming and there were home made cookies and coffee while we played. I felt really, really bad by scooping the rolloever jackpot, which had been standing for a few weeks, of $60!!!!! But again everybody seemed very happy for me to have won.

Patagonia Lake State Park and its birds

We are now camping for a second night at Patagonia Lake State Park. A pretty lakeside campground up in the Coronado Hills, south of Tucson, about 15 miles from the Mexican Border. We have had a very relaxing day. we had a ramble round the campground this morning seeing lots of different birds, Hummingbirds, Orioles, Gold finches and hawks. One of the RV's here has a whole load of bird feeding stations and a couple of chairs with a notice to invite anyone passing to sit and watch the birds for a while, so we did.
Tomorrow we move on to Tucson to test the delights of that city.

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Chill Down

Wednesday, we are now well settled at Chicot State Park in Louisiana and it is very pleasant, it is 6500 acres of forest surrounding a huge lake.
The lake level is low at the moment, so lots of old cypress tree stumps are exposed. I took a walk down there this morning, dozens of large herons of all sorts, I heard an alligator belch somewhere, lots of mosquitos (but the good old 'Go Juice' took care of them).
I have a photo here of a large white heron, with an enormous, but dead, Cypress tree in the background, if you look very carefully there is a very large turtle sunning itself on a little saandbank. I have put in a close up of them.

It is very beautiful and very quiet and peaceful. One downside at the moment is that Sally is not feeling too well, so it is a good job we are taking a fairly long rest here.

Chicot State Park

Monday - We have moved 50 miles north to Ville Platte and the Chicot State Park. It is a large (270 sites) RV park on a lake, however the lake levels are very low at this time. We have a nice site in the middle of the forest and we can see one other site about 30 yards away. This site feels very secure, with State Park Rangers on the entrance to the park about a mile down the road, a camp host parked at the entrance to the RV site, locked gates at night (you get a combination number) and rangers patrolling. This site is costing us $20 p.n. (£14). So we have booked to stay a week as we think it is time for a holiday and this looks like a nice place for us to relax, do very little and recharge the batteries. (metaphorically)
This will give our mail a chance to catch up with us, which includes a part for the trailer and an extra cupboard (cabinet) door for our bedroom area. As our phone has blue tooth I have also bought some blue tooth stuff for the laptop, so that we can download pictures directly, and also be able to use the voice controls for our GPS. We will see if this all works or not.